Prolepsis

Prolepsis, AKA flashforward, is a literary device in which the plot goes ahead of time. A flash-forward represents expected or imagined events in the future interjected in the main plot revealing the important parts of the story that are yet to occur. It also can be used to foresee objections to an argument. The authors will most likely raise an objection to their argument and answer it to strengthen their own argument.

Example:

Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” shows Scrooge in a flash-forward. The greedy and grouchy Scrooge is visited by the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” who shows him his future. Scrooge sees himself dead, and people are actually happy. No one mourns his death, and the people he ruined in his life steal his wealth. He even sees Mrs. Dilber, his housekeeper, selling his property. His only legacy is a cheap tombstone in a graveyard. He weeps on his own grave and asks the third ghost of Christmas to give him a chance to change himself. He wakes up and finds that he is back on the Christmas morning of the present. Scrooge repents and changes his attitude towards life.